Red Like Maple Leaves
by Maple-Karma
Summary: Gilbert was a German immigrant who had been living in the US for about five years when he encounters a blond who attacks him and now finds himself thrust into a world he never knew existed. He has some issues ahead of him, with this new life and what he must learn to survive. But what about the Vampire who turned him? How will he affect Gilbert's choices in this fight for survival?
1. Chapter 1

_"I had been nothing but a German immigrant before all this happened._  
><em>Struggling to make ends meet and on the verge of being homeless multiple times.<em>  
><em>And I'll tell ya, when it first happened to me;<em>  
><em>I never expected I'd start a new order amongst the things I too had become."<em>

* * *

><p>The dim sunlight was fading quickly as night began to fall on the cool Autumn day.<p>

The only thing that could be heard in the silence were the crunching of leaves under the lone man;s thick black boots.

He shivered, pulling his gray wool scarf more snug around his neck and buried his hands in the warm pockets of his thick, blue winter jacket.

The breeze blowing through his silvery-colored hair and through the holes in his old pair of jeans.

Red eyes glancing to the trees every now and again out of nothing more than simple habit.

After finding a park bench, he sat down to relax and closed his eyes.

Life wasn't easy for him up until now.

Both his younger brother and best friend were both dating two Italian brothers.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to himself, but he felt a bit alone a lot of the time as he spent most days watching them go all gaga over each other.

It was...lonesome.

And he had figured moving to America would help them.

Oh who was he kidding? His brother was already helped.

It was him that needed to stop mopping around.

With his eyes shut, he couldn't see the sun disappearing behind the trees, leaving the sky streaked with orange and yellow.

Once the sun had disappeared below the horizon, inviting the new night to come, he reopened his eyes.

"Well..." he finally said, his thick German accent spilling off of his lips. "Its time for me to head home then..." He stood up from the bench, stretching before he turned and continued along the pathway.

He paused his movements, trying to remember where the the main street was when he felt his blood go cold when the rather sudden new sound of footsteps crunching through the leaves came from behind him.

Taking the risk, he glanced over his shoulder.

The sight behind him surprised him.

A male that looked about nineteen stood a bit away from him.

Pale violet eyes almost shining behind the thin pair of glasses on his nose. Long ight blond hair blowing in the light breeze, a thin piece of hair curled and hanging into his line of sight.

A dark red hoodie clung around his small form over dirt covered jeans littered with holes, showing more of the light skin he had and an old pair of black converse on his feet.

A sudden breeze caused leaves to swirl around the blond, his gaze never leaving the man's.

Wanting to end the rather sudden silence, he finally spoke out.

"Hallo...?" he called. "...Are you lost or something?"

The blond stood there without an answer.

Then with the blink of his eyes, he quickly found those violet eyes right in his face.

The man jumped back, nearly losing his balance as the guy was almost two inches taller than him and stared down at him with that same blank expression.

_'How'd he get so close that quick?'_ the man pondered.

"Um...hallo?" he repeated, waving his hand in front of the blond's face.

_'Why is he staring at me like that?' _he continued to wonder. _'Sure I'll admit that I look odd but I'm not __**THAT**__ odd.'_

Then without warning, the blond quickly latched onto his arm that was currently in the blond's face, with surprisingly strength for his skinny appearence

The man didn't have any time to react as the blond sank his teeth into his arm. His red eyes wide in notable shock as blood began to soak through that jacket sleeve.

"What are you doing?! Get off meine arm!" The man screamed, shoving on the Blond's head in a now weakened attempt to get him off.

Bloodloss was not good for him, he was very anemic and bleeding was never a good thing for him.

He soon felt weak, struggling to stay upright as he felt his arm tingling from the sudden bite.

Finally he failed to fight this attacker off, sinking to his knees and thus forcing the blond to release his arm.

He managed to raise his fading eyesight at the blond and could see blood, his own blood, dripping out of the blond's mouth.

The blond's violet eyes were widened with shock at his condition. Almost looking guilty at what he had just done to him.

He hit the ground, his vision now fading to black.

As he lost consciousness, he heard what he thought was a whisper;

_"I-I am...so...s-sorry..."_


	2. Chapter 2

A long abandoned hotel to stood empty, the boarded windows blocking those outside from seeing inside the sixteen floor building.

It used to be the most famous hotel in the area until the owner fell into debt back in the sixties and lost it.

It then sat abandoned for what seemed like a long time until in 2000 when an anoymous figure bought the building for unstated reasons.

But it continued to stay closed from the public for so long that a construction company had been on the verge of tearing it down when the city claimed it was privately owned.

Some had tried to argue that the supposed owner had not stepped forever since the plot had been purchused, but the city couldn't argue as the owner had paid upfront in cash.

Thus this issue was dropped so long ago and the building was left alone.

Minus the annoying punks and homeless who entered the building for fun and were never seen or heard from again.

This would then spark rumors that the place was haunted, but this wouldn't sway the lowest of the low.

Under the dark of night, no passing cars could see a tall, thin shadowed form struggling to drag a limp shadowed form towards this abandoned building.

Before any could, the two forms vanished without a trace.

* * *

><p>Inside the closed building; three young girls, all of which looked no older than fourteen years old, wandered the empty halls of the old hotel as if they owned the place.<p>

They all appeared normal, with variants of brunette hair and oddly pale skin.

But one thing stood out on all of them; the one with a light brown side ponytail had glowing brown eyes, the other with low hanging light brown hair had glowing blue eyes, and the third with short dark brown with glowing light brown eyes.

The low hanging haired one stopped rather suddenly, sniffing at the air.

"You smell that, Kaelin?" she asked her companion, wrinkling the dark part of her dress as she did.

The other girl, Kaelin smelled at the air and nodded, swishing the loose pink jacket which hung around her. "Yep, I smell it too, Marietta...that's the smell of fresh blood."

"Where?" questioned the dark brown haired one, her dark brown tank top and gray shorts clinging to her form.

"Its this way, Reed." Kaelin said, pointing in a direction.

The three turned a corner while trying to locate the source of the smell and all stopped.

A blond haired male with wide glowing violet eyes stood in the hall. He looked about nineteen and wore a dark red hoodie which clung around his small form over dirt covered jeans littered with holes, showing more of the light skin he had and an old pair of black converse on his feet.

The three girls could see where blood had run down his chin though it was dried.  
>He was half-carrying a pale male with silver colored hair.<p>

The pale man wore a dark blue jacket which partially covered his dark jeans. A scarf clung limply around his neck.

His breathing was shallow.

The three girls could see blood soaking through the man's sleeve.

"Matth-?" Kaelin tried to say as the blond pushed past them.

"Get Arthur and Francis! Please!" he yelled over his shoulder, unable to stop the flow of tears running out his eyes.

His yell brought the attention of three other people, who all peered from the other rooms.

A male with slightly messy brown hair, a dark skinned girl with long dark brown hair tied into loose pigtails, and a second girl with long, light brown hair tied into a loose braid.

The blond ignored the stares of these people as he managed to drag the wounded male into a room when two more men entered after him.

"Matthieu what is-_mon dieu!_" the longer blond haired one cried upon seeing the male.

"I-I'm sorry!" The blond cried out. "I couldn't control myself and I-I didn't want to k-kill him a-and I didn't know wh-what else to d-do-" He buried his face into his hands.

The longer haired man hugged the blond gently to his chest.

"Hush mon bébé...everything will be fine." he hushed, rubbing a hand on his back to calm him down.

The second man, a shaggy haired blond with thick eyebrows inspected the wounded male.

"I should have bloody known. He is an albino _AND_ an anemic. Losing even a small bit of blood can send him into shock." he explained, raised a glowing green eyed gaze on the blond.

"Oh no..." the blond whispered, covering his mouth.

"Matthew-" The shaggy blond started, turning his glowing eyes on the blond, now named as Matthew. "-We have no other choice. You know what you have to do. You have to turn him otherwise he'll die-"

"Wha-?" Matthew tried to gasp when the man beside him cried out, "ARZHUR!" his own blue eyes glowing slightly. "Don't say such zhings! Matthieu has never turned anyone before. You know zhis!"

Arthur glared at the blond.

"Francis, you have to stop bloody babying him and let take responsibility for his own mistakes."

As the two argued, they didn't notice Matthew moving closer and staring down at the wounded male who was struggling to breath.

Matthew sank down to his knees beside the male and whispered, _"Please forgive me"_ as he sank his sharp fangs into the male's neck.

Francis and Arthur tensed up upon hearing the male let out a strangled cry of pain as Matthew began draining his remaining blood.

"Matthieu, that is enough." Francis ordered, Matthew raised his mouth from the male's neck. "Now inflict a wound onto yourself." Francis instructed, trying not to become upset and covering his eyes.

Matthew did as he was told, biting deep into his own arm causing dark blood to start seeping out, salty tears running down his cheeks as he knew this would surely kill the man in front of him.

"Good, now...drip your blood into 'is wounds-"

Matthew uncovered the bite wound in the male's arm and watched as his blood fell into the wound, seeping into it before doing the same to the neck wound.

"-now..." Francis said, breathing deeply as he gave the final order. "Feed 'im zhe blood. Arzhur, you 'old down 'is arms and I'll 'old down 'is legs."

Arthur pinned the male's arms above his head in a vice grip as Francis held down his legs.

Matthew hesitantly stared down at the albino as his dark blood dripped into the man's open mouth.

The man had no choice but to swallow the metallic tasting liquid in his mouth so he could breath.

_His mind went blank, eyes rolling to the back of his head as a terrifying pain slammed into his insides._

_It felt as if something was tearing him apart from the inside out._

_He was in so much pain from this feeling that he couldn't control the scream erupting from his throat._

Arthur and Francis kept his arms and legs down until they went limp.

The man's weak red eyes stared up at the three in terror, almost like a rabbit cornered by wolves.

_"...br-bruder...meine br-bruder...I-I can't...l-leave him..."_ was all he could get out before sinking down, dead.

Arthur stared down at the limp body, not wanting to look at Matthew's face.

He knew that it was a very tough call, they might've gotten to the man far too late and he'd never reawake.

"Now...We have to wait and see if he'll wake up again." Arthur said, arms crossed across his chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Gilbert felt as if he were weightless, all he could see was a grayscale emptiness.

His arms and legs weren't working and felt numb.

_"Please...wake up...please...?"_ came an unfamiliar voice that seemed to echo in his head.

Gilbert groaned out loud.

_"You're alive!" _The voice said with a gasp _"...can you please open your eyes?"_

Gilbert groaned again, this time flickering his eyes slightly.

He flinched at the sudden light, shutting his eyes again.

"...meine head..." he grumbled in his German tongue, rubbing the throbbing side of his head.

Gilbert opened his eyes again and tensed.

Staring down at him, were the violet eyes of the guy who had attacked him in the park.

"Y-you...you're the one who-"

"I know...I am so sorry..."

Gilbert realized his head was resting on the blond's knees.

Gilbert struggled to sit up, his limbs feeling as if they were made of lead.

"Who...are you?" Gilbert gasped out as he struggled to shuffle away from the blond.

"Me? Oh its...Matthew...Matthew Williams." The blond replied.

"...Gilbert Beilschmidt..." Gilbert replied without the blond even bothering to question rubbing the back of his head.

_Gilbert tensed up as his memories came flooding back all at once._

_The attack._

_The pain._

_The immense pain in his neck and arm._

Gilbert shoved himself away from Matthew his back hitting the frame of the bed, eyes now wide.

"Y-you!...you b-bit me!...you killed me!"

"I'm sorry okay?!" Matthew screamed, his eyes darkening. "Arthur told me you had no chance of survival and that turning you would be the only way to save you!"

"Turned me?...What are you?!"

"...a Vampire...the same as you."

The two sat in the silence, eyes on each other with Gilbert's wide open until-

_"Man Matt, your choice in food is like, a bit rude."_

The two glanced up at the ceiling where the new voice had come from, to see a teenager who looked of Asian origin staring down at them as he hung upside down from a hole in the ceiling to the upper floor.

"And like, I thought I was the one with a thing for white and silver hair." he continued as he dropped to the floor, landing perfectly on his feet. "Speaking of which, I should ask Arthur when like, that coven from Northern Europe will visit again. I'm starting to miss Emil." he rambled as he hopped from one foot to the other

"LEON!" Matthew yelped, stopping his train of talk. "How long were you there?!"

"The whole time...you just never noticed me." he replied rather blankly.

He held his hand out to Gilbert.

"My name is actually Li Xiao, Leon is just the name Arthur gave me after I was turned by him." _'Leon' _said. "Welcome to our coven."

Gilbert stared at his hand with wide eyes.

"Leon-" Matthew started.

"Li Xiao." Li Xiao quickly corrected.

"Li Xiao...sorry. Could you by chance give us some space?" Matthew asked.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Li Xiao said as he climbed up the hole in the ceiling and disappeared from sight.

Gilbert tried to move a bit and found himself falling forward, feeling as if his limbs were being held down.

"-What's wrong with me?!...I can't move my arms!" he yelled, the German seeping out of his voice.

"Its almost daylight and because of you are a new Vampire, your strength weakens at daylight." Matthew explained as he moved Gilbert into a much more comfortable position before laying down beside Gilbert.

"Sleep well alright? I'll be here until you fall asleep." He explained "I promise that I will explain everything after you wake up, alright?"

_Before Gilbert could reply, his eyes became heavy and he drifted off to a dreamless sleep._

_Matthew stared at him and sighed, sitting up and removing his thick, blood-soaked jacket and blood soaked scarf. He then threw both objects of clothing into a corner before draping a red sweatshirt over Gilbert as a makeshift blanket._

_He moved towards the door, looking back at him._

_"Sleep well, you have a lot of things to learn about our world."_


	4. Chapter 4

Gilbert's limbs ached as he sat up from his dreamless sleep, he blinked his eyes open trying to adjust to the darkness around him. He moved an arm to rustle his own hair when he felt a light material object drop off of him.

Blinking and now being able to see, Gilbert realized that it was a red hoodie that had been draped over him like a makeshift blanket.

Lifting it up, he knew that it was the one that, that Matthew guy had been wearing. He now realized the thing was not in the best quality. It was old and worn, there were sewn parts as if it had been torn in the past. Not to mention the darker stains down the front of it.

Gilbert tossed it aside, not wanting to even think of what the stains were, but in the back of his head he knew that they had to be blood stains. Probably even his own mixed in there somewhere.

He stood up on his feet and investigated his new surroundings; the room was made of old wood, the windows boarded up with care. Although despite this, the room looked rather lived in despite its older style.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a loud crash outside the door to his left.

Gulping, he made his way slowly over and clenched the knob in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he swon the door open and his mouth dropped open.

Lying in front of his door, out in this hall place was a giggling boy with brown hair and blue-green eyes. He wore a dark vest with a short sleeve white shirt and puffed black pants. A dual red and brown hat covered most of his hair.

This kid stopped giggling and looked up at Gilbert with curious eyes. He backed up before sitting up and getting to his feet.

Before the kid could say anything, an arm wrapped around his shoulder.

Matthew had appeared within seconds of this encounter, leaning his head down to the kid's ear and whispering. Once he was done, the boy nodded and took off down the hall.

Gilbert strained his head after him, shocked to see three more kids, these ones all girls waiting for the kid at the end of the hall.

Matthew motioned them away and they all took off down a separate hall connecting hall and out of sight.

He then gave a light cough. "Don't mind them, they are a bit shy but they do warm up to you after knowing you for a bit." he explained.

Gilbert blinked, still staring after where those kids had been standing.

"They're..."

"If you were asking if they were Vampires as well then my answer is yes." Matthew answered with a nod. "Most of them are siblings."

"Siblings?" Gilbert repeated, glancing up at the taller blond.

Matthew nodded.

"I can't explain for them, its not my business to explain. That issue is for Jett and Jory themselves to explain."

"...Jett and...Jory?" Gilbert repeated with a raised an eyebrow.

"You'll meet them soon enough. Now I ask that you come with me." Matthew asked.

"Why should I?" He questioned with a glare.

"Because Francis and Arthur both gave me the order that when you woke up, I was to bring you to meet them, they can explain more than I ever could." he explained, ignoring the glare.

"And if I refuse?" Gilbert retorted, crossing his arms across his chest.

He felt a shiver go up his spine when Matthew's eyes narrowed at him. "As your Sire, you have no choice in the matter. Now as I previously requested, _Follow_." Matthew asserted.

Gilbert felt his limbs straighten out as he began moving without warning and without his control.

"What the-?!"

"Its a conditioning for New Vampires, they have to obey their Sires no matter what." Matthew explained as he stared blankly at Gilbert with those glimmering violet eyes.

"You know I was only kidding!" Gilbert yelped as Matthew began walking forcing him to follow. "I know, I know. " Matthew murmured, "but we can't be too sure. So come along then, you have people to see."

Thus Gilbert followed, albeit unwillingly with Matthew

_**. . . . .**_

After Gilbert had fallen asleep, Matthew shut the door behind him, breathing a sigh of relief knowing that they wouldn't have to get rid of another dead body.

He ran a hand through his blond hair and used his other to pull on the bottom of his shirt.

He could see specks of red dotting the upper half of the shirt.

He groaned aloud, "this is what I get for wearing white when I go out for a hunt." He slouched forward, making his way down the hall before leaping over a railing and falling down two floors. Landing on his feet, he stretched his arms, quickly hearing them crack.

"Need to start exercising again." he noted aloud as he moved forward through the halls when he passed by a room.

Suddenly there was a loud yell of _"MATTHEW!"_ which halted him in his tracks.

"hm?" he hummed, looking over his shoulder.

A new man had arrived in the doorway.

He was much taller than the slouching Matthew, his hair a messy dark brown color.

His eyes were a glimmering green.

He wore a loose dark green tank top, his muscles barely visible through the fabric and dark slacks which were a bit snug on his legs.

Matthew sighed aloud.

Of all the people to confront him now.

"yes Jett?" Matthew asked, alternating between standing on his left and right leg.

The man approached him quickly.

"Care to explain to me why my sisters were nearly on the verge of having a frenzy a bit ago?" this man, Jett questioned, his thick eyebrows furrowing as he glared down at Matthew.

Matthew stared up at him, not about to back down.

"I bit someone and panicked when I took too much blood...so I brought him back here." Matthew informed.

"YOU WHAT?!" Jett yelled, his fists clenching. "IT TOOK ME, KYNE, AND BENJAMIN TO HOLD THEM DOWN AND CALM THEM DOWN! ALL BECAUSE YOU FELT BAD FOR BITING SOMEON-!"

Jett quickly stopped yelling as the sound of splintering wood came.

Jett dropped to his knees clutching his head from the sudden pain.

As he did, a young woman with long dark brown hair tied into loose pigtails and a much darker complexion paced by him. Her light blue dress fluttering as she did.

She then took a spot beside Matthew, her brown eyes glowing as she glared down at Jett.

"Don't you ever yell at my brother again, Jett." she informed. "Michelle?" Jett groaned as he peeked through his fingers at her.

"I'm sure he has his reasons. But I won't stand for you to harm my brother." Michelle huffed.

Matthew glanced over at her.

"I was handling it Michelle."

Michelle pulled his head to her chest, smoothing his hair. "You know I care about you Matthew, I will do as I please."

"Oh dear." came a distressed voice.

Matthew and Michelle looked up simultaneously to see a thin person approaching from a doorway.

This one was much shorter than both Jett and Matthew, nearly the same height as Michelle.

Now this person was in a manner of, you couldn't exactly know the person's gender on first sight. But he was male, you just had to look at the details.

He wore a loose gray button up shirt and dark slacks.

"Did Jett try bothering you two again?" he asked.

"I handled him pretty well." Michelle proclaimed, putting her hands on her hips having let go of Matthew's head. "Yeah we're fine, Jory." Matthew added.

"He needs to learn that you two and Monique can be protective of each other, even if you aren't blood siblings like Jett, Kyne, Benjamin, Kaelin, and Reed or me, Marietta, and Taylor." Jory stated. "Now...you said you brought someone here? Where are they now?"

Matthew lowered his head. Michelle looked over at him. "Matthew?" she questioned.

"...he's one of us now."

Jett raised his head with a snap.

"Oh shit." Jory cursed.

"Matt is that true?" Jett questioned as he got to his feet.

"Yes...but-..."

"What happened?" Michelle questioned crossing her arms. "You always trail off when you're talking if something bad happened."

"...he called for his brother with his last breath." Matthew said.

Jett and Jory both became silent.

Matthew knew this because it was exactly what the both of them had done when Arthur had turned them. It hit hard with Jett as his sister, Kaelin nearly died from the turning.

"So what now?" Michelle questioned as she looked at Matthew.

"I'm reporting to Francis and Arthur that he's awake. He fell asleep when the sun rose." he explained.

"Well good luck with that." Jett said.

Matthew sighed.

"thanks for your help Jett..."

Matthew turned and continued down the hall with a sigh.

Michelle, Jett, and Jory all stared after him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

I'll be adding Character Profiles to this so you all know who is who.


	5. Meet the Cast

This is a meet the cast segment, every time a new character joins an additional one shall be posted.

* * *

><p><strong>Gilbert<strong> - A German immigrant who came to America four years prior to the main story. Has a younger brother, Ludwig who may appear later on in the series. Turned by the rather mysterious and quiet Matthew. (Prussia)

**Matthew** - A rather calm and collected young man who is anything but young. He's already proven that he isn't afraid to stand up to someone much taller than he is. (Canada)

**Francis** - A Frenchman who apparently runs the coven that Matthew and now Gilbert are a part of. Hinted to have turned both Michelle and Monique. (France)

**Arthur** - A stubborn Englishman who also runs the coven that Matthew and now Gilbert are a part of. Turned everyone besides Matthew, Monique, and Michelle. (England)

**Monique** - Mentioned by Jory. Unknown personality currently although said to be about as over protective over Matthew as Michelle is. (Monaco)

**Michelle** - The one who defends Matthew the most. She's quite strong enough and isn't afraid in the slightest of Jett. Knows Matthew right down to his speech patterns. (Seychelles)

**Jett** - A tall young man who seems to be quite over protective of his siblings. Much to the point he begged Arthur to turn all four of his younger siblings. Hinted that he and his siblings were orphaned and nearly on the verge of starving to death. (Australia)

**Jory** - An average young man who has an androgynous appearance most causing many to first believe he is female until they notice the minor details. He, like Jett has younger siblings whom he begged Arthur to turn as well. He sees Jett as a brother figure. (New Zealand)

**Kyne** - Mentioned by Jett. Unknown personality currently. (Hutt River)

**Benjamin** - Mentioned by Jett. Unknown personality currently. (Atlantium OC)

**Kaelin** - Seen around Reed and Marietta. Later seen with those two and Taylor. (Wy)

**Reed** - Seen around Kaelin and Marietta. Later seen with those two and Taylor. (Coral Sea Islands OC)

**Marietta** - Seen around Reed and Kaelin. Later seen with those two and Taylor who is her brother. (Aramoana OC)

**Taylor** - Not seen until Gilbert indirectly meets him. Hasn't spoken as of yet. (Whangamomona OC)

**Li Xiao "Leon"** - Quite the blunt person. Teases Matthew. Hints at having a thing for light hair and a individual named Emil. (Hong Kong)


	6. Hiatus

I've decided to put this on hiatus because, if anyone couldn't really tell, I've been drifting away from Hetalia for a while.

With the fact of beating Bioshock Infinite several days after Thanksgiving, my love of the series came back at full force.

Along with, I've been getting into other series like Five Nights at Freddy's and Borderlands.

Much to the point that my own writing inspiration has basically gone down the toilet.

I'll try to write now and again to update but please do not attempt to force an update out of me.

You can find me on my dA MapleBeer-Shipper and on my Tumblr, MapleBeer.

Links to such are on my front page.


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